Thurstable and Winstree Team Ministry

serving the parishes of Tiptree with Tolleshunt Knights and Great Braxted, Copford, Easthorpe, Messing, Inworth,
Layer de la Haye, Layer Breton with Birch, and Layer Marney

The 'Layer' Parishes: Layer de la Haye • Layer Breton with Birch • Layer Marney

Welcome

C of E logoThe three 'Layer' parishes serve the Essex villages of Layer de la Haye, Birch, Layer Breton, and Layer Marney. We are part of the Church of England and our parishes are situated in attractive rural settings, just south of Colchester.

Our parishes are within the 8-parish Benefice of Thurstable and Winstree. The Layer parishes work closely with the parishes of Copford and Easthorpe. The other three parishes in the benefice are Tiptree with Tolleshunt Knights and Great Braxted, Messing and Inworth.

We welcome everyone who would like to join us for our services of worship, or our social events, regardless of the stage he or she has reached on their own spiritual journey. Meeting and worshipping together are essential parts of christian faith and life.

On this website you can find a range of information about our parishes and their activities.
Lower down this page are links to the main pages on the site, each with a brief explanation of content.


St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye - The sanctuary
St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye - The Sanctuary

TWTMlogoBenefice Clergy

Team Rector: The Rev'd Anne-Marie Renshaw, who has overall responsibility for leading ministry in the benefice.

Associate Priests: The Rev'ds Liz Barnes, Christine Eaton, Christine Newmarch, Ruth Hatchett and Michael Hatchett.


Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

To discuss a baptism, wedding or funeral please contact the Team Rector, The Revd Anne-Marie Renshaw.

Useful information for those considering a wedding in any of the churches in our benefice can be found on the page Wedding Information for Enquirers


News(see also our Forthcoming Events page)

Newssheet for Week Commencing Sunday, 24th March 2024

The newssheet (in PDF format) for the benefice's eight parishes for the week commencing on the above Sunday can be viewed and/or downloaded by using this link: Weekly Newssheet.


Holy Week and Easter Services

On the Forthcoming Events page are details of services in our parishes for Holy Week and Easter


Confirmation Preparation

Preparation for confirmation will begin after Easter. If you are thinking about being confirmed, or know someone who might be interested, please contact Anne-Marie.

The benefice's Confirmation Service will be held on Monday 15th July at 7:30 pm at St Luke’s, Tiptree. The candidates will be confirmed by Bishop Guli, the Bishop of Chelmsford, who is coming to conduct the service.

Some information about the step of confirmation can be found on the page Confirmation


Our Churches Open for Private Prayer and Visitors

Our churches are open for individual private prayer (except during services) as follows:

St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

St Mary the Virgin, Layer Marney: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
If you would prefer to visit Layer Marney Church at a quiet time, please see the entries on our weekly news sheet under ‘Coming Up This Week' to check when the church will be busy. In addition, other activities may also be taking place during the week when we are preparing for wedding ceremonies and other services.

St Michael & All Angels, Copford: Open daily from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

St Mary the Virgin, Easthorpe: Open daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

The above days and times are those effective as at February 2024.


Church Giving

Thank you to everyone who continues to give to our churches, by whatever means: it is much appreciated.

If you would like to help us with our costs by setting up a standing order or making payments direct (e.g. through internet banking) to one of our bank accounts, please contact your PCC Treasurer for the information you will need. (For Layer de la Haye parish this is Mrs Anne Hughes (01206-734168))

If you wish to make payments to the church of St John the Baptist, Layer de la Haye, whether by cheque, standing order or direct debit, please note that the name of its bank account is now St John the Baptist Church, Layer de la Haye.


Safeguarding Statement

We are committed to Safeguarding children and young people and vulnerable adults.

The PCCs have adopted the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding which may be found on the Church of England’s website: www.churchofengland.org/more/safeguarding

Details of our Parish Safeguarding Representatives are:
Layer de la Haye: Anne Hughes – Tel: 01206-734168; Email: info@mrsmushroom.co.uk
Layer Marney and Layer Breton with Birch: Judy Bancroft – Tel: 07887-991329 ; Email: judybancroft@icloud.com


Site Map


Further Afield - Our Parishes in Context

Our parishes are in the Witham Deanery.

Witham Deanery is in the Diocese of Chelmsford. To learn more about our large Diocese which stretches from heavily populated East London to quiet rural Essex villages, visit the Chelmsford Diocesan Website.

Diocesan Bishop
Bishop Guli
The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani
Bishop of Chelmsford
Area Bishop
Bishop Roger
The Rt Revd Roger Morris
Bishop of Colchester
Archdeacon
Ruth Patten
The Ven Ruth Patten
Archdeacon of Colchester
Area Dean
Revd Simon Garwood
The Revd Simon Garwood
Witham Area Dean

Page updated: 21 Mar 2024 at 19:46